For all of the most iconic and famous musical albums, there is an equally iconic piece of album art that goes with them. From The Beatles’ Abbey Road, to Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA, to The Velvet Underground’s famous Andy Warhol banana cover, there are certain musical images that will be forever ingrained in popular culture. Today, however, as many consumers rely on digital downloads for their music, the artistry involved in designing and marketing music through art has lost some attention. European visual label AntiVJ has taken a slightly different approach, however, as it has strived to organically bond music with visuals through such means as installation presentations for instance. Most recently, AntiVJ collaborated with Brussels-based musician Thomas Vaquié on his album Ecume to create a unique and technologically inspired album cover made with the help of 3D printing.

Ecume’s dark album art is undeniably striking, but it is the means through which it was made that interests us most. Wanting to fully merge the art and the music, AntiVJ and Swiss artist Yannick Jacquet collaborated to create album art based off of the actual sound waves of the music. Using a custom digital visualization tool, Jacquet was able to analyze the songs on Vaquié’s album and turn the music into visual sound waves, or “sonic landscapes”.

From there, a 3D model of the sonic landscapes was generated and subsequently 3D printed. The 3D printed model, in turn, was used to make a silicone mold of the sonic landscape which was then used to make a concrete cast. With the concrete models in tact, each piece was lit in a specific way and photographed to capture the album art. To best mimic and retain the rough texture of concrete, the final photographs were made to have both matte and laminate parts. The result is an abstract, yet completely striking cover design that echoes the music on the album through an almost moon-like surface.

According to AntiVJ, this project is part of an on going effort to showcase how music itself can spur imagination. “At a time when music seems to be forced—too often and too hard it feels—to be augmented or justified by visual impact, AntiVJ Recordings wants to reaffirm the capacity held within the medium of sound itself to feed the imagination,” states the label.

Interestingly, Vaquié’s music was itself inspired by visual means, as many of the songs were composed for AntiVJ’s site-specific installations. According to the label each track was written as “a response to place and space, to light and architecture, to code and motion.” It seems fitting then that the music was turned back into exactly those elements for the album cover.

In addition to the photographed vinyl sleeves, AntiVJ has reportedly also released a limited edition series of 25 versions of the album artwork made from dark resin casts. These limited edition pieces are retailing for €90 ($100) each, and have a rougher, textured, and topographical surface. The regular vinyl is retailing for €24 ($26.50).